Wednesday, August 21, 2013

4 Patch Poison

(forgive the lousy photography but it won't stop raining long enough to take a decent photo outside!)

I've been playing with four patches again. I shared a few peeks at the blocks I was making, but this is what I finally decided on. I am happy with the finished quilt, and must say, sometimes it's fun to just do something easy that makes you smile. This quilt definitely makes me smile. I love these color, and I was inspired by a quilt made in 1875, that I found in this book.

I wasn't sure how I wanted it to look when I started, I just let the quilt decide. I'm so pleased that it decided it wanted to be easy! Life has been a little hard lately, and this quilt helped me through some stressful days. If you would like to make this quilt, here's the instructions:

4 Patch Poison
42" x 54" (3" finished blocks)

Materials Needed:

Green: 1.5 yards
Blocks: 1.5 yards
Binding: 1/2 yard

Cutting:
Background (green):
82- 3 1/2" squares
22- 6" border squares cut twice on the diagonal to make four quarter square triangles from each square ( used a different green for the borders, but it was very similar to the background green)
Blocks:
246- 2" x 4" rectangles of various colors (pinks, chrome, black,cheddar)

Sewing:
To make the four patches. Layer two 2" x 4" rectangles right sides together and sew along the long side. Press open toward the dark fabric. Cut in half crosswise. Flip one side and nest the seams together. Sew across and pinwheel press the seam allowances. Four patches will be 3 1/2" at this point. Make 123 four patches.

Lay out the four patches and the background squares as shown in the photo at the top. Sew these into rows, then sew the rows together.

Borders:
To make the border units, you will sew a triangle to opposite sides of the four patches. Trim the extra point off before sewing.

Each border will have 10 four patches. Sew these units together into four sets of ten. Then add the setting triangles on the ends, and trim to size. Note that the side borders will need the extra length but the top and bottom borders will not.

Assemble the quilt top:
Sew the side borders on the left and right hand sides of the quilt top. Center the borders and then trim the ends after they have been sewn onto the top. Repeat with the top and bottom borders.

Binding:
I used a bias binding because the check fabric looks better on point, but it is not necessary to use a bias binding, unless you prefer.

6 comments:

Oh wow! That looks great. LOVE the layout and the added touch of black really makes the rest of the colors pop! It has a wonderful old fashioned vibe going on. I think we sometimes make the best quilts during the harder times in life.:)

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